Culture

Woman Missing For 11 Years Found in Florida Keys

Abandoned her children after dropping them off at school in Pennsylvania

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One morning in February 2002, then-43-year-old Brenda Heist dropped her two children off at school in a small town in Lancaster County, Pa. That was the last time any of her family and friends saw or heard from her until last week.

Heist approached a Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputy Friday in Key Largo telling him she may be wanted in Pinellas County. When the deputy ran her name, he found that she had been listed as "missing and possibly deceased," Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deputy Becky Herrin said.